


some origins of fire

by pieandsouffle



Category: Mortal Engines Series - Philip Reeve, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Contemplative, Gen, do not need prior knowledge of mortal engines, mortal engines au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 04:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19433512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pieandsouffle/pseuds/pieandsouffle
Summary: The mechanical brain is small and unassuming, plain to the nth degree. But Palpatine knows well it is far more powerful than it appears. Why else would he have acquired it?





	some origins of fire

Stalkers are three things:

Rare is the first. To find one, one must scour the earth, tunnel into the ground, sneak through cities and museums and collections. Years of asking, demanding, threatening, searching. It’s finding that is the difficult part. The rest is much easier. To acquire it, there is but a simple, albeit heavy price: coins, or blood. Whichever is more convenient.

The tiny Stalker brain in Palpatine’s hand still has the blood of its former collector speckled across its smooth, curved surface. It’s warm to the touch, and he expects it has been so since its creation. Stalker technology defies thermodynamics; no fuel cell is nestled within the machinery, or none that can be identified or replicated. Palpatine closes his fingers around it, feels the _tick_ of gears, the hum of wires working tirelessly after thousands of years. The faint glow of heat that radiates from its heart seeps into the bones of his hand. Curious that something so small is enough to set a corpse walking.

For powerful is the second thing that a Stalker is.

The Ancients – at least before their arrogance grew to the point they turned on themselves and burned the world – were many things, the most flattering and honest of which is simply stated as _genius._ How could any people create such a thing, and then destroy themselves? It is truly a compliment that their creations long outlive the owners of the soiled hands that patiently constructed them. Were the Ancients too short-sighted to see what war was coming? Or were they long-sighted, and cared more for their dreams of the future and glory than the planet they burned beneath their feet as they strove to turn themselves into gods at the expense of everything else in existence … including, apparently, themselves.

This is something Palpatine understands quite well. There is no planet underfoot, but rather under _tread._ He has never stepped foot on the bitter remnants of the earth, and does not ever intend to. He has others to do that for him. He has –

He opens his hand, and peers closer to the brain. Runs his fingers across the one seam of metal. Cleans it of the blood.

The brain needs the perfect host, of course. Such a rare item cannot be wasted on the corpse of a mere lackey. No, the host must be bold. Someone who was as strong in life as they will be in their afterlife as an iron soldier.

He looks to the sun. Somewhere, far, far to the west is Coruscant, idling by the dried-out bed of an ancient sea. The navigators will be busily checking their maps and charts, the engineers examining the city’s treads for damage. And inside the Jedi temple, sparkling pristine white on the top tier of cascading mountain of steel, is the perfect host.

A child, still. But Palpatine is patient.

Palpatine can wait.

After all, Stalkers are three things, and the third is _his._

He can wait.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who read this who isn't familiar with Mortal Engines (the book, not the terrible film). Stalkers are corpses fitted with highly advanced machines developed by the extinct former generations of humans. The machines turn the bodies into near-invincible puppet soldiers, and while for the most part they retain no memory of their former lives, some do have their previous personality/memories leach into the their computer brain and wreak havoc.
> 
> This AU has no Force. The Jedi are simply a religious order on one of the moving cities, and Palpatine is a creep who decides to create the perfect Stalker host in Anakin.


End file.
